Day 142 Mazama, WA and Ross Lake detour.

Today is a resupply trip for Bud Light to the town of Mazama and a rather long hitch of 40 miles. We have a short 3.5 miles to go this morning from Panther Campsite and we’ll be to highway 20/Panther Creek trailhead. The actual PCT crossing at Rainy Pass/Hwy 20 is 20 miles east of here. Had we decided to stay on the PCT we would have walked 20 miles of busy highway to here. Instead, we turn west from here and walk about 1/2 mile to the East Bank Trail along Ross Lake.

Above: The East Bank Trail head.

Below: Bud Light is our point man on this hitch attempt. Soon it was apparent that 3 is a crowd so we tried another strategy. This time Black Hole and I would wait out of sight in the trail head parking area with the agreement that if someone pulls over Bud Light would take the ride unless the hitch could take more of us.

Below: This strategy worked! and what are the odds that a guy vacationing from the Netherlands (where Bud light is from) is in Washington State and on highway 20 and on this day/time decides to give a hitch!! Soon they are speaking Dutch while Black Hole and I listen intently trying to decipher the language. Fortunately we all packed into the car with our packs on our laps. 🙂

We started hitchhiking at 9:14 am, arrived to Mazama at 11:30am had lunch and were headed back to the highway at 2:00 pm. We still have 6 miles to hike when we return to the trail head so hopefully this last hitch of our hike arrives quickly!

Unfortunately it took another 2 hours before this guy took pity on us. I believe his name was Shawn from Winthrop and he was headed to his wedding! This was our last hitch of the trip, the next ride will be when Kelly picks us up 2 days from now.

We arrived to the trail head at 5 pm and hiked the 6 miles to Roland Campsite per our permit itinerary. Tomorrow we will touch the Canadian border, it’s like Christmas Eve anticipation mixed with sadness that Santa and his Elves will soon be gone.

Here is my last Q&A from Troop 3616, Mia’s mom Michelle writes:

What has been your biggest fear?

I would have to say that my biggest fear aside from meeting animals that could do me great harm, would be failing to complete the trip. This is a big undertaking, mentally and physically it dwarfs anything I’ve done before. It also stands to reason that it shouldn’t really be a failure if I got myself to the southern terminus and quit 20 miles later at Lake Morena, I’d have at least tried. However, my fear of failure to complete the trail is more of mental failure.

As we’ve seen I had some physical issues with my IT Band and ankle swelling from an irritated tendon. Had this trip been squashed by these physical issues or a plethora of others I could be content with the ending. Failing myself mentally would be a harder one for me to deal with. I’m a person who hangs on to personal failures for far too long, they are memories that replay themselves in a never ending loop. Also, I didn’t want to burden myself or anyone close to me by saying,”I wish I wouldn’t have quit” for who knows how long into the future.

Below: I can’t state enough how important encouragement is from friends and family. I carried these with me.

With each goal along the way this fear diminished, day 1, mile 500, Kennedy Meadows 700, Forester Pass, Oregon/California border 1700. When I looked down on Cascade Locks my fears were gone, I knew the northern terminus would be mine.

Thank you all at Troop 3616 for your great questions, words of encouragement and resupply package at Timberline! Go hike!!❤️